Today I read the book by Robert Spencer, Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry into Islam's Obscure Origins (Washington, Del.: ISI Books, 2014). While I disagree with the central thesis, Spencer did raise a number of interesting points about the standard narrative of early Islamic history and the complete lack of evidence supporting such. Notwithstanding, I believe he did a hit-and-miss job on the criteria of embarrassment (ch. 5 [pp.107-24]) vis-a-vis the historicity of certain events in the life of Muhammad, so reader beware. I first became aware of the book after learning of Spencer's debate with David Wood on the thesis of the book:
Robert Spencer vs. David Wood: Did Muhammad Exist?
Robert Spencer vs. David Wood: Did Muhammad Exist?
